


Click Your Eyes

by guava



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, kabedon!, one-sided Inseong/Juho, they smoke like bad boys while studying like good boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27722675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/pseuds/guava
Summary: Two lonely boys grow closer together through their last winter in high school.An AU based on Youngbin and Inseong's roles inClick Your Heart.
Relationships: Kim Inseong/Kim Youngbin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Click Your Eyes

Since Inseong was drifting apart with the school's top fighter, was there any point in maintaining his image as a 'tough guy'? There wasn't, but he took a cigarette from the slim white pack of Carnival Menthol offered to him.

By chance, he had run into Kim Youngbin smoking behind the public library. Instead of putting out his cigarette, Youngbin offered Inseong one.

Inseong didn't feel like correcting the misassumption that he was a fellow underage smoker or sharing that he hadn't guessed Youngbin was one. Then again, they barely knew each other. All Inseong knew about Youngbin was that they were in the same year and that he was the idol trainee of their school's dance club.

Inseong had tried smoking with Juho, just once, and knew what were the amateur mistakes to avoid. After Youngbin lit Inseong's cigarette with a basic orange lighter, Inseong took a series of puffs. The hit was incredible, wiping clean his piled up weariness, warming him from the inside in the cold weather.

Then he inhaled too fast and coughed, expelling the smoke streaming out of his nostrils and mouth.

Youngbin watched him and said, "I'll give you more, if you want."

"Why would you do that?" Inseong asked, kicking himself on the inside for still hacking away. 

"I'm going to quit once I get through my stockpile, about one carton full. Thought I'd share them to better appreciate what's left."

Inseong hummed, staring at the exposed ash at the tip of his cigarette. Youngbin's way of thinking was different from his. He would never share a limited stockpile of what he had to quit, all the better to ration his remains and drag out his unhealthy addiction. That was what he had done with his alone time with Juho, before Juho had gotten back with his clumsy girlfriend.

Juho had been miserable with him. Then she stumbled back into Juho's life, and Juho passed on his misery to Inseong.

"You're a senior, right?" Youngbin asked. "Want to meet up to prepare for the SAT? After that, we can have a smoke to call it a day."

_**A1: Smoke more of Youngbin's cigarettes.** _  
_A2: Don't smoke more of Youngbin's cigarettes._  


Perhaps cramming in the three years of studying that Inseong had not done would do the trick. All those dry facts and long definitions would surely crowd out his useless feelings for his best friend.

****

It was easier said than done with his eyes, hands and brains unused to doing the typical hard work of a student. But he was not going to give up, he was not going to put put his head on the table and nap in front of Youngbin. He was going to take an advantage of coming to the school library for once: finding free labour.

****

At the same table as Inseong and Youngbin, a junior was compiling his notes for Korean History. Kim Hwiyoung agreed to let Inseong photocopy his work in exchange for watching his new club president's cover video, shot in the 'state of the art' school's broadcasting room itself. To Hwiyoung, getting views for the video was a big deal, which Inseong could not relate to since he had never bothered joining any school club.

****

If the cover video's viewcount increased in the next couple of hours, Hwiyoung would work on more chapters from the history textbook. The nitty-gritty of increasing views was more complicated than it seemed, as Youngbin briefly explained to Inseong with a graphic saved on his phone with the heading 'CNBLUE Streaming Guide'.

****

"Is this for watching a video or summoning a creature from hell?" Inseong grumbled, softly so the ahjumma librarian wouldn't give him the stink eye again. "And who are CNBLUE?"

****

"Seniors from my entertainment company," Youngbin said. "They're huge in Japan."

****

When Hwiyoung went to the restroom, Youngbin took a break to sit beside Inseong and watch the video. Inseong lent him one of the buds of his earphones and pressed play, hoping the video he had to watch over and over again wasn't too terrible.

****

Hwiyoung's club president turned out to be not bad, in fact even very good. He put his soul into his singing, wringing every nuance of despair from the song's heart-rending lyrics.

****

' _Baby bye bye goodbye, love, goodbye my love..._ ' 

****

Inseong couldn't breathe. His breath was strangled in his throat and his eyes grew hot.

****

Nudging his arm, Youngbin asked, "Are you crying?"

****

Inseong shook his head. He turned away, blinking furiously until he was sure that the corners of his eyes were dry.

****

' _Lastly, for not taking good care of you, like the other person does.._.'

****

Once the video ended, Youngbin removed Inseong's earphone, pinching it between his fingers. He stared at it, not looking at Inseong as he said, "It's okay. The song makes me feel like crying too."

****

It was not okay for Inseong. He let his phone fall against the table in place of banging his fist against it, turning some heads but he didn't care. Maybe his life would be better if he got kicked out of the library, leaving him with nowhere to go, nowhere to run into dreadful reminders of what he was going through alone.

_B1: Stop going to the library to study._  
_**B2: Continue going to the library to study.** _  


Truly, Inseong hated being alone. He did not know how else to not be lonely except to continue his afternoons of studying with Youngbin, walking with him to a secluded corner of the park behind their school and smoking with their coats pulled over their uniforms. This was the closest he had gotten to someone in high school that wasn't Juho.

****

And so he continued pressing play on his days with Youngbin, along with yet another listen of the broadcast club president's cover video. Its effect was minimized after Inseong followed the streaming guide Youngbin had shown him to include the video in a playlist and wedged it between music videos of CNBLUE.

****

He racked up the views in that manner, pleasing not just Hwiyoung but also the singer of the cover himself. For Inseong's efforts, Lee Jaeyoon dropped by the library to present Inseong with more notes and study guides collected from the previous president, who was on the school's honour roll.

****

Inseong just shrugged and accepted his reward. He would have to see if it worked as well as CNBLUE's singles in getting new knowledge to stick in his head.

****

As the library got too crowded, Youngbin began to invite him to study at his home. Sometimes Inseong stayed to eat dinner with Youngbin and the rest of his family, and at other times he went with Youngbin to grab a bite at Shake Shack. On one occasion, Youngbin's older sister and brother treated them to piping hot udon at a food cart.

****

Once Inseong was full, he got back to work with Youngbin to bend over practice tests on the low table in Youngbin's room. They took turns to take breaks and wake each other up from short naps, or they would both give in and stretched themselves out on the floor in the middle of pulling an all-nighter.

****

Out of habit, Inseong still put on the playlist with the cover video and CNBLUE songs. When "Loner" came up, he was unable to not sing along in Youngbin's room.

****

"I'm a loner, I'm a loner, daridiridara du..."

****

"...I'm a loner being sad at love, shedding a tear at love."

****

Inseong kept quiet as Youngbin twirled his yellow highlighter and half-sang, half-rapped the start of the second verse. "If you had just told me honestly that you've got someone else, that you hate me, then I wouldn't have hated you to death."

****

Inseong waited for the song to end before saying, "You're good. Any news yet about your debut?"

****

Since about the fiftieth time that he had looped the song, Inseong had quit relating its lyrics to his personal woes. They were the last thing in his mind as he appreciated Youngbin's cool singing style, thinking that he'd like to see Youngbin in a recording booth or dance studio some day.

****

"None. I don't think it's happening anytime soon," Youngbin sighed. "People from the company just tell me to hit the books until the SAT is over, which I think says it all."

****

His mood took a downturn just as his highlighter was running out of ink. He rubbed it furiously against the blank corner of his writing paper, scratching the sheet so hard as if he was rubbing out his insecurity.

****

Inseong winced. To distract Youngbin, he asked, "Do you have any more cigarettes?"

****

"Oh," Youngbin put his highlighter down, "You know, we're down to the last one."

****

"Is that so..."

****

When the last cigarette was gone, Youngbin would quit. It was common to keep putting off kicking a bad habit, saying you'll change tomorrow, but Inseong thought Youngbin was more serious than most. For the past two weeks, Youngbin had been cutting down on his smoke breaks, only drinking Fanta with Inseong. He claimed he had also stopped cutting into his supply without Inseong around.

****

Only once did Youngbin succeed in getting away with buying a pack of Carnival without an ID, in the stressful days leading up to his trainee monthly evaluation. His older siblings found out and instead of the usual lecture about the consequences of lung cancer, they bought cigarettes for him so he wouldn't do it himself and get into trouble. One did the favour for Youngbin without the other knowing, and so Youngbin managed to collect an entire carton of smokes.

****

They trusted Youngbin to know when to quit and Youngbin did. Inseong was going to quit too before he got an addiction that he couldn't manage on his own, since he wasn't counting on others to look out for him.

****

From his backpack, Youngbin produced the last cigarette, which looked a little battered after being squashed in its pack under Youngbin's books. Youngbin lighted it, took a couple of drags and turned it between his fingers to hold it out to Inseong.

****

"Here," Youngbin said. "You can have the rest."

****

Inseong hesitated to cut in on Youngbin's final hit. "It's fine."

****

"Take it, before it burns out."

****

It would be a waste to just let it crumble into nothing. On an impulse, Inseong put his lips around the end of the cigarette above Youngbin's fingers to begin inhaling right away.

****

Youngbin snorted. Asking what was so funny without taking his mouth off the cigarette, Inseong raised his eyebrows. Was Youngbin laughing at Inseong's eagerness to put his mouth on where Youngbin's mouth had been? 

****

"Have I got you hooked on smokes?" Youngbin said. "If you are, I'll take responsibility."

****

"No...maybe I would, if we continued for another month."

****

Into an empty Coke can, Inseong dropped the cigarette ash that threatened to sprinkle over his practice test. While pinching what remained of the stick between his teeth, he returned to what he was working on, completing with a mechanical pencil the solution for a calculus problem that Youngbin was stuck on.

****

Youngbin propped his elbows on the table and rested his hands against the side of his neck, leaning over to watch Inseong's workings materialise across the page.

****

"You're really smart," he commented. "I can see you getting into a good university."

****

Inseong didn't say anything and quickened the scratching of his pencil, finishing his solution and drawing a double line under the final answer. He was reluctant to think about the future and where his new place would be there.

****

He changed the subject to appear unbothered, asking, "What are you going to do from now on when you get sad? When you can't take smoke breaks anymore."

****

"Hmm..." Youngbin thought it over before replying, "I'll call you, I guess? Would that be okay? You can call me too when you're sad, when you can't talk to your other friends."

****

"Careful, if you become my friend, I might fall in love with you."

****

Inseong thought he had kept his tone light enough to pass his remark off as a joke, but he hadn't. A quaver of underlying bitterness gave him away. Youngbin just looked at him, scrutinizing his face so seriously as if pinning Inseong down with his gaze.

Finally, Youngbin asked, "Has that happened before?"

_C1: Tell a lie._  
_**C2: Tell the truth.**_  


"Yes..."

****

In their peaceful evening, telling the truth about his feelings was easy. Waiting to see Youngbin's reaction was not. Inseong looked away from Youngbin, swallowing the lump rising in his throat, imagining the connection between them detonating in the span of seconds.

****

He heard Youngbin say, "Do you have other friends besides Juho?"

****

Inseong turned back to Youngbin, finding Youngbin's expression unchanged. He was just staring at Inseong and twirling the pen in his hand, like they were just continuing a regular conversation. Nothing had blown up, yet Inseong was irritated for reasons that he could not explain.

****

"No," he snapped.

****

There was nothing else for him to say or do except call it a day. Youngbin turned in too, switching on the small lamp on his bedside table before heading to the switch for the the overhead light.

****

It was unusual to find cute items in a high school boy's room like Youngbin's lamp. It took the shape of a moon that emanated an orange glow. On top of the moon, a rabbit wielded a little mallet and was hard at work pounding mochi.

****

When Inseong commented on its cuteness, Youngbin said to him, "I like collecting cute stuff. Like you."

****

Joking around like that wasn't what a typical guy would do. And a typical guy would not do what Youngbin had done earlier, treating Inseong's non-platonic affection for another boy as if it was no big deal.

****

The temptation to know more about what Youngbin thought kept Inseong tossing and turning on his spare futon. In the darkness, when they didn't have to look at each other, he let his restlessness goad him into asking his stupid questions.

****

"Is it common in the world of male idols for guys to like other guys? Does that happen a lot?"

****

Over the hammering of his heartbeat in his ears, he listened to the sound of Youngbin shifting against his bedsheets.

****

Then Youngbin replied, "I haven't actually stepped into that world, so I don't really know how common it is. I guess it could happen. Why?"

****

"It's just...you weren't at all shocked about what I said."

****

Boldly, Inseong clarified, "About falling in love with my friend who's a guy."

****

"There's nothing much to be shocked about. Liking guys doesn't seem much different from liking girls. You'd still want to do the same things: confess, hold hands, go out with each other."

****

"And kiss."

****

"That too," Youngbin said.

****

Inseong's attempt at really shocking Youngbin went nowhere. Saying nothing, Inseong rolled over on his pillow and lied with his rising dread on facing the next morning. Maybe they'd continue talking about what they just talked about, maybe they wouldn't.

****

They did not. After frying an egg for Inseong, Youngbin asked for suggestions on what they should do once the SAT was over.

_**D1: See Youngbin again.** _  
_D2: Forget about Youngbin._  


At a clothing shop in Apgujeong Rodeo, Inseong met Juho alone. _She_ was nowhere to be seen and Juho didn't act like she was about to join them at any moment.

Not that Inseong actually had any serious issues with her. If he did think she was bad for Juho, he would not have lent a hand to track her down. He had put up with Juho's sighing and pining for her, and put in so many hours to find one high school girl in a city with a population of ten million, over-investing in his best friend's happiness to compensate for his one-sided crush.

That was done and over with, along with the exam that had been driving the nation's high school seniors nuts. The very next day, Inseong received a text from Juho, asking if he wanted to hang out.

He brought Juho to look at clothes to pick one out for Youngbin. Admittedly, Inseong did not have much of a fashion sense, while Juho was a sharp dresser when out of his school uniform. Inseong needed advice from a trusted source so he wouldn't saddle Youngbin with what he didn't want.

Juho approved Inseong's choice of a teal coat with broad lapels and a double-breasted front. Its unusual colour and cutting fulfilled the criteria that Inseong had in mind: to give its wearer the aura of a celebrity. While its price was higher than what Inseong usually paid for his own clothes, Inseong didn't mind, since it still fit into his budget and he wasn't looking out for a cheap present in the first place.

After Inseong paid for it, the coat was handled with care and wrapped with tissue before being packed into an emerald green box. Juho just watched Inseong take the shopping bag with the coat in its box, only demanding to know more about the gift's receiver once they had exited the store.

"What have you been doing with your new friend?" Juho asked.

"Mmm...nothing interesting."

"So you stopped talking to me cause you're busy doing 'nothing interesting' with him?"

"Wait, I thought _you_ stopped talking to me."

"Hey," Juho grabbed Inseong's shoulder, "You were the one who turned down studying with Mina and me at my place. You know you could've dropped in any time."

"How could I?" Inseong scoffed. "I don't think she'd appreciate me being there, watching you and her be all lovey-dovey."

"She asked about you a lot, you know. After you disappeared on us, she was even worried that you won't even show up for the SAT."

"Seriously? I thought she can't stand me. She always looks like she's going to cry whenever I'm around."

"That's just how she looks with people she hardly talks to. She's actually really fun...and I can't have my best friend and my girlfriend not talking to each other. My life feels incomplete."

"Yeah...I can see why you feel that way."

It was comforting for Inseong to find out that all along, his best friend had been thinking of him. Comforting, yet embarassing in proving that Inseong's woes about Juho forgetting him were totally unnecessary. But without those very woes, Inseong would not have stuck with Youngbin and gotten used to their days together.

Before they parted, Inseong promised to meet up with both Juho and his girl very soon, on the condition that all public displays of affection were kept to a minimum. When Juho said he'd like to continue hanging out and chat over coffee, Inseong turned him down since he had planned to deliver his present right away.

He headed for the giant Christmas tree that stood tall at the entrance of the nearby shopping mall. Right before the tree, there was a large glass ball with flecks of snow and tiny snowflakes painted on the outside. Anyone could walk into it, appearing like miniature figurines in a snow globe as they stood on a bright red board.

Inside the glass ball, Inseong waited for Youngbin. He was early as it turned out that he did not have to look in more than one shop to find a suitable gift. Looking up, he could pretend he was admiring the Christmas tree through a shower of beautiful snow that was neither cold nor wet.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed a young mother and her little boy taking pictures of the tree with her phone. Not long after they left, Inseong had the space within the glass ball all to himself until Youngbin approached him.

Inseong eyed the unremarkable grey parka Youngbin had on, thinking it was about time that Youngbin traded it in.

"Happy belated birthday," he said, offering up the shopping bag with Youngbin's new coat.

"Thanks. But didn't you already treat me to barbecue on my birthday?"

"Well, take it anyway," Inseong insisted, practically forcing the bag into Youngbin's hand. "You can wear it when you debut and get famous, so you won't become a meme for being unfashionable."

"If only," Youngbin laughed. "I'll take it anyway, in exchange for what I want to give you."

"For me?"

"Yeah, something like a Christmas present."

As Inseong's hands were free, Inseong slipped them into the pockets of his coat. Youngbin reached for his arm, took his hand out and slipped their fingers together.

"I like you," Youngbin said. "That's a confession."

"Uh..."

Tongue-tied, Inseong looked down at their joined hands, then studied Youngbin's face. He was a little frightened by the earnestness shining in Youngbin's eyes, but he felt no urge to shake Youngbin off.

He let his mouth twitch as he asked, "Is this Christmas present also an early April Fool's prank?"

"Would I kiss you as a prank?"

He said that before actually doing it, leaning up to brush his lips against Inseong's mouth. Though Inseong was taller than him, Youngbin was not at all self-conscious. Inseong wasn't sure why the light press of Youngbin's mouth did not feel unnatural, but before he could give the matter much more thought, he was struck with the reality that his first kiss was gone, just like that.

As Youngbin watched him, his little smile faded with the turning down of his lips. Just when he began to loosen his hold around Inseong's fingers, Inseong got a hold of himself and clutched Youngbin's hand.

"Hang on." Inseong took a deep breath and said, "That's not a proper kiss."

"You're right..."

Youngbin zeroed in on Inseong's lips as he seemed to plot the best way to cross the short distance between their mouths. Flustered, Inseong was too caught up in trying to will away the heat rising to his face when Youngbin launched his next attack. He held the side of his present's shopping bag and raised it to cover their heads as he pressed another kiss on Inseong's mouth, landing a full imprint of the shape of his lips and even lingering afterwards.

Drawing away his mouth and his warm breath on Inseong's skin, he said, "That's all I can do in public. I can do more if you..."

He squeezed Inseong's fingers and continued, "If you go out with me."

Warmth flooded Inseong's chest at the conclusion of Youngbin's confession. Inseong had not known how much he wanted to hold on to Youngbin until Youngbin held his hand, which must mean that he liked Youngbin back.

He said what he just learned out loud, "I like you too."

"So can we go out?" 

"Sure. Once we get out of here, we're going out."

Still holding hands, they stepped out of the glass ball. A crazy image entered Inseong's head of him clinging onto Youngbin and thanking Youngbin over and over again for letting him decide whether they start going out or not. All he could do to release his erupting craziness was to tug Youngbin along and weave through the crowd, putting one foot after another until they were in an alley with no one else around.

There, Youngbin let Inseong flatten his back against the wall.

Inseong slammed his palm down right beside Youngbin, leaned in and asked, "When you said 'do more', you mean you're going to use your tongue, right?"

_**Will you start over with me again?** _

**Author's Note:**

> Inseong in this fic is like [this little cat](https://www.dropbox.com/s/mjv4o7dgiv4q1zl/fragile%20cat.png?dl=0). He thinks he has been abandoned and is taken in by Youngbin, but in truth he has ran away from his original caretaker. 
> 
> I started writing this fic as an entry for the flash fiction challenge based on SF9's "So Beautiful". This song is played over the end of each episode of _Click Your Heart_ in which two choices are given to lead the heroine to a different love interest, which I copied in showing the choice Inseong makes at end of each section for this story. 
> 
> As I overshot the challenge's maximum wordcount (1500 words) and the story became less relevant to the challenge's prompt, I decided to write another fic for the challenge and post this one separately. 
> 
> Like "So Beautiful", [the song from Jaeyoon's cover video in the fic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HugBTOUEf-4) is also used in _Click Your Heart_. 
> 
> 'Click Your Eyes' is the title that [Dawon suggested as a joke](https://twitter.com/brainseongs/status/1261304850500870144) for a sequel to the original webdrama. 
> 
> The detail of Youngbin being a smoker and idol trainee is taken from his [cameo appearance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8t9PHZ9ixA) in a Kdrama. 
> 
> My BinSeong fan account: [@guava_otp93](https://twitter.com/guava_otp93)


End file.
